Iran-backed attacks slow since 3 US service members killed

Attacks by Iran-backed proxies have slowed since a January drone strike in Jordan near the Syrian border killed three U.S. service members.

Since the United States launched retaliatory attacks on targets in Syria and Iraq on February 2, there have been only two small-scale attacks in Syria.

But U.S. lawmakers warned on Wednesday that calm would not reduce the risk of regional conflict.

“Iran does not have complete command and control of its actions,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin said Wednesday. “This makes the situation very unstable and requires caution and sobriety from U.S. leadership. The risk of miscalculation will not only lead to another deadly attack on U.S. service members, but also to a full-scale regional war.”

The U.S. military said U.S. and coalition forces shot down five Houthi drones in the Red Sea late Tuesday.

U.S. Central Command said the drones were launched from areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels and “posed an imminent threat to commercial shipping, U.S. Navy and coalition ships in the area.”

The attack was the latest in months of operations aimed at countering Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis say they stand in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.

“Iran thrives on chaos and suffering. In the long term, the best way to neutralize the threat is to provide an alternative – a comprehensive, lasting peace with true regional integration. I realize this is not an easy task , but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put in the effort,” Kadin said.

The White House called the January attack “despicable and completely unjust” and retaliated by killing the leader of Kataib Hezbollah in a targeted airstrike on February 8.

Senate Republicans view the Biden administration’s overall approach to Iran as weak.

Sen. Jim Reish, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the administration to do a better job of denying Iran the resources it could use to commit acts of terrorism.

“The Biden administration has yet to articulate a coherent Iran policy beyond nuclear negotiations. It’s time to change course,” Risch said on Wednesday. “We must adopt a policy of containment. Iran’s way of thinking is different from that of the West, and it cannot be taught or translated into behavioral changes.”

“I believe Iran knows it can safely expand its axis of resistance because the Biden administration has a deep aversion to defensive military action,” Brian Hook, the former U.S. special representative for Iran during the Trump administration, told senators. . The Biden administration is de-escalating for the sake of de-escalation. The Iranian regime thrives on this strategy. The U.S. military does not.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considering Risch’s legislation to better enforce U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.

“Iran will always make sure Hezbollah gets what it needs,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told VOA. “Their support for proxies is a very low-cost means of provoking the United States. I mean, it would be foolish if we thought that oil sanctions here or there would change Iran’s decision to fund groups like Hezbollah .”